Greene King sells Old Speckled Hen brands to Damm UK

Greene King has sold the Old Speckled Hen family of beer brands to Damm UK, drawing a clean line under one of the most recognizable names in British beer as it shifts its weight back toward pubs and away from supermarket shelves. The deal, announced on 19 May 2026, covered Old Speckled Hen, Old Golden Hen, Old Crafty Hen, Old Master Hen and Low Alcohol Old Speckled Hen, and the price was not disclosed.

For Greene King, this was less a simple brand sale than a reset. The company said it is reshaping itself into a modern pub and brewing business, with growth centered on its strategically important on-trade channels. At the same time, it is pulling away from selling Greene King beers through off-trade and export channels. It said it will stop producing its beers for UK off-trade customers next year, when it opens a new brewery in Bury St Edmunds.

Old Speckled Hen has been one of the biggest pieces in that off-trade puzzle. Greene King said the brand accounts for more than half of its off-trade beer volume, which makes the handover especially significant. That scale helps explain why Damm UK, the British arm of Barcelona-based S.A. Damm and owner of Estrella Damm, had reason to move. It is taking over a family of brands that already has strong shelf presence, established drinkers and a built-in range that stretches from the core ale to low-alcohol and variant extensions.

The beer’s story reaches back to 1979, when it was first brewed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, to mark the 50th anniversary of the MG Car Company’s move from Oxford to Abingdon. Its name came from an MG Featherlight Saloon, the paint-spattered factory runabout that inspired the original label personality. Greene King has brewed the beer since buying Morland in 1999 and shifting production to Bury St Edmunds in 2000, where the brand became part of a lineup that the company later expanded with releases such as Old Session Hen.

Damm UK said it respected Greene King’s heritage and would work closely through the transition period. That is the shape of the deal in a nutshell: Greene King is choosing to double down on pubs and local brewing strength in Bury St Edmunds, while Damm UK takes a familiar off-trade stalwart that still has room to travel.